Protecting wealth in a world of recurring crisis

Happy Wednesday. I know the news is ‘less good’ today than it was when I last wrote you but writing these weeklies always puts me in a more positive frame of mind. Nevertheless, today’s topic is about downside risk. My hope is to frame the economic scenario globally and then to offer some strategies of mitigating what I believe is significant downside investment risk

Jeffrey Gundlach’s Bond Outlook

Here’s the skinny on how Jeffrey Gundlach sees the best tactical bond market approach for US-based investors

Chart of the Day: Market Year in Review

Wow! Who would of thunk it. The Dow the only major global equity index positive for the year. U.S. Treasuries up 15-20 percent, the dollar index (Dixe) positive; Brazil and Chinese equities down 20 percent and India down almost 25 percent. Copper was on everybody’s buy list at the beginning year, finished down over 20 percent; and foodstuffs had nowhere to go but north, finishing flat after spiking earlier in the year and taking most of the political leaders in North Africa with them

Euro Slump Extended, Mediocre Italian Bond Auction, Poor Hungarian Debt Sale

The euro extended yesterday’s losses in Asia, falling to $1.2866, the lowest level since the start of the year. The euro’s losses against the yen were also extended with new 10-year lows recorded just above JPY100.30. Italy wrapped up a difficult year by selling about 7 bln euros of a 5-8 bln target range. Yields were around 50-120 bp lower than the last auctions with similar bid-cover. The results did not help the Italian bond market stabilize and the 10-year yield continues to flirt with 7%

Japan and China: Small Beer

Understanding the financial agreement within the context of that rivalry is more important than what it means for the future of the dollar as the world’s more important reserve currency, invoicing currency and vehicle currency. Nor will the agreement impact the outlook for either the yuan or the yen

Dollar Softer As Markets Head Into Holiday Mode

US dollar is softer vs. majors Friday as markets head into holiday mode; sentiment improving a bit in the absence of any major negative euro zone developments. France Q3 GDP revised weaker, Italy confidence lower than expected; euro zone recession in 2012 will likely exacerbate debt problems. RUB outperforms as central bank narrows interest rate corridor; TRY weaker after central bank auctions only $50 mln today vs. $1 bln bid

The Facts They Don’t Want You to Know

If I told you that the composition of an average UK equity fund changes by 90% a year, would that startle you? How would you feel if I added that the 20 funds with the highest turnover returned just 4.7% to investors in the 3 years to the end of March 2011 whereas the 20 funds with the lowest turnover returned 16.8% over the same period? From the same source: Out of 1,230 funds across 12 different strategies, only 35 fund managers produced a performance consistent enough to earn their fund a place in the top quartile in each of the last three years (upper half of chart 1). In a universe of 1,230 funds, over a three year period and completely disregarding skill, the expected number of funds consistently ranked in the top quartile is 1,230*0.253=19.22. In other words, more than half the 35 managers were there not because of skill but because, statistically, someone was always likely to ‘over-achieve’

Slightly Better News Stream, US Dollar Softer

The US dollar is beginning the week on a softer note, but well within recent ranges. Most of this week’s key events lie ahead. The day earlier than planned and somewhat larger Italian austerity plan coupled with talk of ECB purchases has helped send Italian bond yields sharply lower, with the 10-year yield falling over 50 bp toward 6%. Spanish 10-year bond yields have fallen about 40 bp to near 5.25%

Credit Writedowns Weekly Report, Vol 1 Issue 1: European and US Sovereign Debt

With the fundraiser week winding down, I am going to start making a few changes now. One thing we probably need is a synopsis of the past week’s posts in order to tie the week’s events together thematically. I will make this synopsis using the most read and tweeted posts plus the ones I think are most relevant to what’s actually happening in global markets and the economy.

This week there is a ton of stuff here. So, here we go with the weekly report volume 1, issue

Running through Italian default scenarios

The most important debate of our lifetimes is now ongoing. The question: Should the ECB “write the check’ for the euro area national governments? In thinking about the answer to this all-important question, I prefer to shift the focus by changing the verb “should” to “will”.

Answering this slightly different question is much more important than answering the first question for you as an investor, a business person and as a worker. If the ECB writes the check, the economic and market outcomes are vastly different than if they do not. Your personal outlook as an investor, business person or worker will change dramatically based upon this one policy choice. The right question to ask then is: Will the ECB “write the check’ for the euro area national governments

Gross, El-Erian on Europe, Strategy, Treasuries

PIMCO’s Mohamed El-Erian and Bill Gross spoke exclusively with Bloomberg Television’s Tom Keene today from the company’s headquarters in Newport Beach, CA about Europe’s crisis, PIMCO’s investment strategy and Treasury yields.

Video here

Week that Began with a Bang Ends with a Whimper

The foreign exchange is calmer. Equity markets are generally higher. Global bond markets are also quieter today